Dinamo Zagreb was founded on 26 April 1911 as Građanski. After being renamed and reformed as Dinamo in June of 1945, they entered the Yugoslav First League in its inaugural 1946–47 season, finishing as runners-up. In their second season in Yugoslav top flight in 1947–48 they finished as Yugoslav champions which was their first major trophy. The club won three more league titles and seven Yugoslav Cups.

Until the early 1990s its foundation year was considered to be 1945 but amid political turmoil during the breakup of Yugoslavia the club began claiming direct lineage to pre-WWII clubs Građanski Zagreb and HAŠK. In order to reflect this in June 1991 it was renamed HAŠK Građanski, which lasted until February 1993 when it was renamed Croatia Zagreb. They won five league titles and participated in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000UEFA Champions League group stages carrying that name before reverting to Dinamo Zagreb in February 2000. Although the subject was dropped for a while, in 2011 club management increasingly began claiming that Dinamo is the direct descendant of Građanski (which had originally been founded in 1911 and disbanded in 1945) and in April that year decided to prepend the adjective "Građanski" to the club's official name, turning it into the present-day GNK Dinamo (Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo or "Citizens' Football Club Dinamo").

The team's traditional colour is royal blue, which has been replaced for European matches in recent times with the darker navy blue. The club's biggest rivals are Hajduk Split, and matches between the two teams are referred to as "Eternal Derby". Dinamo are currently reigning Croatian league champions having won their ninth consecutive Prva HNL title in the 2013–14 season.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II the three most successful Zagreb-based clubs (HAŠK, Građanski and Concordia) were all disbanded by a decree issued by the communist authorities in May 1945. In order to replace them, a new sports society called FD Dinamo (Croatian: Fiskulturno društvo Dinamo) was founded on 9 June 1945. The new club inherited Građanski's colors and fan base, with most of Građanski's players continuing their careers at Dinamo. In the first few years the club played their home matches at Građanski's old ground Stadion Koturaška, but soon moved to former HAŠK's old ground at Stadion Maksimir. In addition, former manager of Građanski Márton Bukovi was appointed as Dinamo's first manager. The most notable Građanski players who joined Dinamo upon its formation were August Lešnik, Mirko Kokotović and Franjo Wölfl. Of the HAŠK players that joined Dinamo, the regulars in the first team soon became Ratko Kacian, Željko Čajkovski, Svetozar Peričić and Dragutin Lojen.

Three Yugoslav clubs went on to participate in the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but they were knocked–out early in the competition, excluding Dinamo who went on to become the first ever Yugoslavian team that won a European competition. In the first round Dinamo played against Spartak Brno and after the aggregate score was 2–2, coin was flipped in order to determine the winner. Dinamo was through to the second round, where they were drawn against Scottish side Dunfermline. For the first time in the history of the cup the away goals rule were introduced, which helped Dinamo to qualify for the third round after the aggregate score was 4–4 (2–0 at home and 2–4 away). On their road to finals they defeated Romanian side Dinamo Piteşti, Italian powerhouse Juventus and German side Eintracht Frankfurt. In the finals the club was draw to play its first match at Maksimir against Leeds United. Dinamo won 2–0 in front of the 33 thousand fans with Marijan Čerček and Krasnodar Rora scoring, which was enough to secure the title as the match at Elland Road finished 0–0.[5]

Dinamo closed the successful sixties with Yugoslav Cup title in the 1969 and quarterfinals of the 1969–70 Cup Winners' Cup competition. Unfortunately, the success didn't follow the club to the new decade, as they failed to win a single trophy throughout the 1970s. The club participated in three more seasons of Inter-Cities Fairs Cup before it was replaced with UEFA Cup, but failed to make any impact. Dinamo took part of the initial UEFA Cup season, but lost in the second round of the competition to Rapid Vienna on away goals rule. The club entered the UEFA Cup on seven more occasions (in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1992) but never repeated success from the sixties. Finally, at the start of the 1980s, Dinamo won their sixth Yugoslav Cup title, defeating Red Star Belgrade 2–1 on aggregate result. They qualified for the 1980–81 Cup Winners' Cup, but lost already in first round to Benfica. In 1982 Dinamo sealed their fourth Yugoslav championship. In 1983 they won their seventh Yugoslav Cup which was the club's last trophy in the SFR Yugoslavia. After Benfica, another Portuguese club sealed Dinamo's European season, this time in 1982–83 European Cup when they lost to Sporting CP. They played in 1983–84 Cup Winners' Cup season and were eliminated, again, by Portuguese side Porto. The club didn't have any success in the second part of the 1980s, except two consecutive second–places in Yugoslav championship in 1989 and 1990.

After the SFR Yugoslavia was dissolved, Dinamo took part in creating the Croatian Football League and the initial season was played in 1992. The same year club controversially changed its name to HAŠK Građanski, and another name change followed in 1993, when the club was renamed to Croatia Zagreb. The name change was widely seen as a political move by the leadership of then newly independent Croatia, with the goal of distancing the club from its Communist past. As the name change was also never accepted by their supporters, the club renamed themselves back to Dinamo on 14 February 2000. As Croatia Zagreb, the club won six Croatian championships, of which five were won in a row from 1996 to 2000. During this period, the club also won the Croatian Cup four times.[6]

In the late 1990s, the club played two consecutive seasons in the UEFA Champions League group stage. In the 1998–99 season, they were drawn in a group with Ajax, Olympiacos and Porto. After disappointing performances in the first three matches in which they managed to draw against Ajax at home and lost their away matches against Olympiacos and Porto, they performed well in the remaining three matches, beating Porto at home and Ajax away, and drawing to Olympiacos at home. However, they failed to advance to the quarter-finals as a second-placed team behind Olympiacos. In the 1999–00 season, they were drawn in a group with defending champions Manchester United, Marseille and Sturm Graz, but managed only a fourth–place finish in the group with two draws and one win. They most notably held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford in their opening Champions League match that season. The club also competed in two consecutive seasons of UEFA Cup. In 1996 they were knocked out in the second round, while in the 1998 they managed to reach the third round, but lost to Atlético Madrid 2–1 on aggregate score.

The club subsequently participated five times in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, in 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. However, they played against Milan, Dynamo Kyiv, Arsenal, Werder Bremen, Shakhtar Donetsk and failed to win a single match, losing 6–1 on aggregate to Milan, 5–1 on aggregate to Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal and 5–3 on aggregate to Werder Bremen. Since the qualifying rounds format changed, Dinamo was unable to get through to the play–off round, losing 3–2 on aggregate to Red Bull Salzburg in 2009. Before the UEFA Cup group stage phase was introduced, Dinamo's best success in the competition was reaching the second round of the competition on three occasions. They were able to reach the group stages in 2004–05, 2007–08 and 2008–09, but failed to secure qualification to round of 32. UEFA then introduced Europa League competition which had slightly changed format compared to that of the UEFA Cup. Dinamo was able to qualify for the group stage of the initial 2009–10 Europa League season, after beating Scottish side Hearts 4–2 on aggregate. In domestic competitions the club was able to secure five league titles and won the Croatian Cup on six occasions. They have also won four Croatian Supercups. The club has also produced many footballing talents that represented Croatia on the international level in the 2000s. The most notable are Luka Modrić, Eduardo, Vedran Ćorluka, Niko Kranjčar and Tomislav Butina. Dinamo once again qualified for the Europa League in 2010–11 finishing third in group D behind PAOK Thessaloniki and Villarreal and ahead of Club Brugge. Dinamo was very close to finishing second after wins against Villarreal at home (2–0) and Club Brugge away (0–2) but failed to win in their last game against PAOK at home (lost 0–1) and thus failed to qualify for the next stage. Dinamo managed to reach the group stage of the Champions League in 2011 after beating Neftçi Bakı (3–0 at home, 0–0 away), HJK Helsinki (2–1 away, 1–0 at home) and Malmö FF (4–1 at home, lost 2–0 away). They were drawn in group D alongside Real Madrid, Lyon and AFC Ajax. Dinamo finished last in the group stage, with a -19 goal difference and 22 goals conceded, which makes this the worst performance ever in Champions League history. They lost both matches against all teams - Real Madrid (0-1 at home, 6-2 away), Lyon (1-7 at home, 2-0 away) and Ajax (0-2 at home, 4-0 away). The only highlight of the campaign being two late consolation goals in the final match of the group at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the only goals Real Madrid conceded in that group. The following season, Dinamo once again managed to qualify for the Champions League group stage after defeating Ludogorets Razgrad, Sheriff Tiraspol and NK Maribor. They were drawn in group A alongside Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Paris Saint-Germain. They failed to reach the next stage after recording 1 point and a -13 goal difference with their best result a 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kyiv at the Stadion Maksimir.

Dinamo Zagreb's tally of 16 Croatian First League titles is the highest in Croatian football.[7] They were runners-up in the league three times, and only on four occasions have they concluded a season of Prva HNL finishing out of the top two places in the final standings.[8] The team is also the most successful Croatian Cup competitor, appearing so far in 16 of the cup's 23 staged finals, 12 of which they ended up winning.[9] On top of that, they qualified for eight Croatian Supercups and won the event five times. This makes them, along with Hajduk Split, a joint record holder in the number of Croatian Supercup appearances and titles.[10] Furthermore, the team managed to achieve The Double eight times, being both the Prva HNL champions and the Croatian Cup winners from 1996 to 1998, again from 2007 to 2009, and most recently from 2011 to 2012.[11]

The members of an initiative Zajedno za Dinamo [Together for Dinamo], composed of Dinamo Zagreb's supporters, have been claiming that the club was silently privatised by its executive president Zdravko Mamić, and that it functions as an evidently unlawful "public limited citizens' association". Subsequently, the tax exemption granted to the club by the constitutional law came under heavy criticism, particularly in the light of the club's lucrative transfers arranged at the start of the 2000s. Jutarnji list journalist Romana Eibl asserted that during this period the club had as much as 1.36 billion kuna of untaxed revenue, partly from selling its players for exorbitant prices, while approximately 360 million kuna were received from the public funds. The former director of the club Damir Vrbanović argued that the transfers do not offer a long-term source of revenue for the club, and that the club is therefore justified in remaining a nonprofit organization.[21]

Dinamo Zagreb's home stadium is Stadion Maksimir. The stadium is situated in the north-eastern part of Zagreb, opposite the city's largest urban parkMaksimir, which also lends its name to the eponymous neighbourhood. It was officially opened on 5 May 1912, and has been noticeably upgraded several times thereafter, and most recently in 2011. The stadium was initially used by HAŠK, and the club became its tenant only in 1948, after the stadium was rebuilt.[1] Before moving to Maksimir, the club played its home matches at the former Građanski Zagreb's stadium Stadion Koturaška. It is there that the club played its first official match on 23 June 1945. Its first match at the Stadion Maksimir was played on 19 September 1948 in front of a crowd of 40,000 spectators.[27]

The design of Stadion Maksimir initially included a single grandstand in a shape of a horseshoe that faced the other, much smaller stand to the north.[27] The north stand was altered from the ground up in 1998, when it was replaced by a 10,965 all-seater stand, and also a building with 15,000 squared meters of office space covered in a glazed façade. The north stand's capacity is nowadays reduced to 9,460 seats.[1] As for the original grandstand, it is now replaced by three separate stands, although their present-day design came about after a long and toilsome process of numerous renovations, which have started almost immediately after the stadium was rebuilt in 1948. Some of the best Croatian architects at the time, such as Vladimir Turina, Eugen Erlich, and Franjo Neidhardt, worked on this project. Prior to Croatian secession from SFR Yugoslavia, the restructuring of the stadium was never completed as thoroughly as it was planned, mostly because of an array of bureaucratic obstacles. Lastly, it was put in order for the 1987 Summer Universiade, but even then the final appearance of the stadium was less satisfactory than what was to be expected.[27]

Some progress was finally made in 1997 when seats were installed on both the east and south stands. Shortly before the 1999 Summer Military World Games, the west and also the largest stand of the stadium was renovated. It comprised 12,600 seats, and a VIP section with 718 seats that also included a presidential lodge.[1] By this time, the total maintenance expenses for Stadion Maksimir have climbed up to 362.4 million kuna. In 2006 the then mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandić announced a project worth €150 million that would see Stadion Maksimir once again completely rebuilt.[28] By 2010, the taxpayers have vested another 288 million kuna on maintenance and restoration of the stadium, but no significant improvements were made.[29] The arranged reconstruction of Stadion Maksimir soon became an enormous financial problem for the city, and for a brief period of time Bandić was planning to call a referendum in which the citizens of Zagreb would decide whether to continue with investments into Stadion Maksimir, or rather to build a brand new Stadion Kajzerica.[30] The referendum was never held and both projects were ultimately abandoned in 2012.[31] Nevertheless, some crucial work was done between 2011 and 2013, when the club replaced all of the seats from the four existing stands, installed the under-soil heating, ameliorated the interior of the stadium,[32] and made some aesthetic adjustments, among others, to the colour of the stands and of the tartan track surrounding the pitch. Currently, Stadion Maksimir is listed as a 35,123 all-seater.[1]

Although the club had a good deal of followers since it was founded, its first organized group of supporters emerged only in 1986 under the name of Bad Blue Boys (often abbreviated BBB). On the BBB's official website it is stated that the name of the group was inspired by the 1983 film Bad Boys. After its founding, the group aroused great interest in Zagreb and its branches started appearing in all parts and neighbourhoods of the city. They also started being noted throughout Yugoslavia for their self-organized departures to the visiting matches of Dinamo Zagreb, desiring to voice their support for the club, and also for the City of Zagreb and Croatia.[33] During the team's home matches, the BBB traditionally situate themselves on the north stand of Stadion Maksimir.[34] The BBB and the rest of the club's supporters view Hajduk Split's supporters as their most notable rivals, or more specifically the former's ultras group, Torcida Split.[34]

Dinamo's biggest rivals are Hajduk Split, and the matches between the two teams are referred to as "Eternal Derby" or "Croatian Derby".[44] Matches between the two clubs are recognized as the most anticipated event of Croatian club football,[45][46] which attracts the greatest number of spectators and most media attention of all the football matches in Croatia. There is also a rivalry with HNK Rijeka.

In Yugoslav times, major rivalries used to also include Serbian clubs Red Star Belgrade and Partizan.[6] Despite spending most of their recent history playing in the same division as Dinamo, and being from same city, NK Zagreb are not considered major rivals by the fans.[34]

The following is a list of former Dinamo Zagreb players which have made significant contributions to the club while playing for its first team. The list is sorted in alphabetical order and in accordance with the specified inclusion criteria.[48][note 2] Players that were named in the club's "Best 11" squad are excluded from the list.

In 2011, when the chairmanship of Dinamo Zagreb organized a controversial celebration of the club's disputed centennial,[49] a group of experts, along with the club's fans, chose 11 of Dinamo Zagreb's former and current players to fit in an ideal squad in 3–4–3 diamond formation.[50] Shown in brackets is a period in which the players played for the first team of the club.

^At least one of the following inclusion criteria has to be met for a player to appear on the list.
1. A player has made at least 250 appearances for the club in domestic league competitions.
2. A player has scored at least 80 goals for the club in domestic league competitions.
3. A player has made at least 50 appearances in official UEFA competitions.
4. A player has scored at least 15 goals in official UEFA competitions.
5. A player appeared in the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final.